Briefly

GERMANY

2 dead as car hits crowd in Mannheim

A car drove into a crowd in the western German city of Mannheim on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring 11 others. Police detained the driver, who appeared to have plowed intentionally into the crowd given the speed at which he was driving, prosecutors said. Prosecutors have initiated investigative proceedings against the suspect, a 40-year-old German man from the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

UNITED STATES

SpaceX postpones Starship test flight

SpaceX on Monday called off its eighth Starship test flight from Texas over an unspecified issue with the rocket system's core, delaying for at least 24 hours the company's attempt to deploy mock Starlink satellites in space for the first time. The test mission would have been the first Starship launch since a January mission ended eight minutes into the flight when Starship, atop a rocket booster, exploded over the Caribbean, prompting a federal probe.

AUSTRALIA

Residents prepare for rare tropical cyclone

Communities across southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales are preparing for the first tropical cyclone to make direct landfall — forecast to be on Thursday — since two other similar rare cyclones hit the region in 1974. Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to bring severe consequences, including powerful winds, extensive flooding and hazardous ocean conditions.

Agencies via Xinhua